South Carolina / Department of Consumer Affairs / Attorney III
Job-title file
Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.
1 employees hold this title in Department of Consumer Affairs. Median total compensation for the role is $94,956, above the department median of $69,823.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Lawyers — about 7,890 people — is $120,310. Department of Consumer Affairs pays a median base salary of $80,386 for this role, 33% below that figure — about the 25th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Lawyers across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Consumer Affairs’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Lawyers — about 754,500 people — is $159,670. Department of Consumer Affairs’s median base salary is 50% below that national figure, about the 11th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the South Carolina range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Consumer Affairs is $80,386, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
Attorney III is held in 29 South Carolina departments. In Department of Consumer Affairs, the median of $94,956 ranks #12 of 29.
Median total compensation for the Attorney III role in other South Carolinadepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 14 jurisdictions. In South Carolina, the median of $102,000 ranks #6 of 14. See Attorney across all of South Carolina →
Median total compensation for comparable Attorneyroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
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Attorney III/Department of Consumer Affairs
James Copeland works as a Attorney III for Department of Consumer Affairs. James earned $94,956 in 2026.